Our county and its people. A descriptive work on Jefferson County, New York, Part 42

Author: Emerson, Edgar C., ed
Publication date: 1898
Publisher: [Boston] Boston History Co.
Number of Pages: 1368

USA > New York > Jefferson County > Our county and its people. A descriptive work on Jefferson County, New York > Part 42

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Orville Hungerford was another conspienous figure in early Water- town history, and was, withal, one of the most prominent men of the county in his time. He was born in Farmington, in 1790, and made his appearance in the village in 1804, but went to Burrville and was elerk for Judge Foster, and came with the latter to the county seat very soon afterward. In 1815 Mr. Hungerford began business for himself, and was in trade until 1842. In this year he was elected to congress and served four years. In 1847 he was the democratic candidate for the state comptrollership, but was defeated at the polls. lle was one of the founders of the Jefferson county bank, and was for years concerned in its management, as cashier and president. He was also engaged in various railroad and other public enterprises, and labored zealously and successfully for the welfare of both Watertown and the county. Mr. Hungerford died April 6, 1851.

In this connection mention may also be made of Loveland Paddock, the banker and financier, and brother of John Paddock, the pioneer merchant. Loveland Paddock was formerly a dry goods merchant, but later on became identified with banking interests, and thus built up a splendid fortune for his descendants. lle was a generous, public- spirited citizen, and did much to build up the village and subsequent city. The name Paddock has for many years been associated with one 50

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of the best old business blocks in the city, which stands as a lasting monument to the memory of its founder. George C. Sherman, who is mentioned at length in the bench and bar chapter, began his career liere as clerk and student in David W. Bucklin's law office. In 1823 he was admitted to practice, and thereafter was identified with professional and political life until his death, April 23, 1863. Mr. Sherman was the the organizer in fact of the Watertown Bank and Loan company, and about 1848 left professional work to assume its care and management. He accumulated a handsome fortune. Talcott Hale Camp, who was for so many years connected with mercantile and banking interests in Watertown, was born in Utica in 1812, and began his business career in the village in 1840, when he opened a drug and paint store in the Paddock building on Washington street. Later on he became connected with railway and banking interests, and occupied a high position in local history for many years. He was president of the Jefferson County bank from 1856 to the time of his death. and was also connected with the Jefferson County Savings bank. Addison M. Farwell was a native of Sandusky, Ohio, and came to Watertown in 1859, where, in company with Frederick Baker, he established the old Farwell & Baker tannery. For twenty- five years he was president of the Jefferson County Savings bank, and was also connected with other banking institutions in the city. Mr. Farwell retired from active business in 1888. Lotus Ingalls, the veteran lawyer and editor, who was associated with and helped to make history in Watertown for a period of almost sixty years, was born in Rodman in 1818. He came to this city in 1839, and after a course at the old Black River Institute, read law with Lansing & Sherman. He practiced for several years, but about 1850 became con- nected with local journalism, in which capacity his best record was made. His subsequent career in this field is narrated in the history of the county press in another part of this work. Gilderoy Lord, whose name appears frequently in the preceding history of Watertown, was for many years a prominent figure in industrial and financial circles. He was one of the founders of the early plow and agricultural imple ment works on Beebee's island and later on drifted into other channels of business where he attained a high standing and also acquired a sub- stantial competency. For several years he was director and president of the City National Bank.

Dr. Isaac Munson came to Watertown soon after he was elected county clerk, in the fall of 1849, and in 1855, after having served out

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THE TOWN OF ADAMS.

his term of office, he was made secretary of the Agricultural Insurance company. He was afterward made vice-president, and president, the latter in 1882. He served in that capacity until his death in 1886. Dr. Munson was a native of Herkimer county, born in 1812, and entered the medical profession in 1831. He located for practice at Evans' Mills, and from that time was identified with the best history of the county.

Byron B. Taggart, who is elsewhere frequently mentioned in this chapter, was one of the best known and most successful business men of Watertown. He was a native of Le Ray, born April 28, 1831. He was one of the old firm of Taggart Brothers, and was afterward pres- ident of the Taggarts Paper company and the Taggart Brothers com- pany. Ile was also identified with many other local enterprises of importance, both in industrial and financial circles.

Samuel B. Upham was another worthy representative of Watertown's best elementary business men, and was for about thirty-five years con- nected with the National Union bank. Mr. Upham was born in Mass achusetts, in 1819, and came to Watertown in 1841. He was partner with O. C. Utley, in mercantile business, and in 1856 became cashier of the old Union bank, with which and its successor bank, he was so long connected in later years. He was also identified with many other local business enterprises. Richard Van Namee was another prominent character worthy of mention in this connection, and was one of the founders of our system of water works.

CHAPTER XXI.

THE TOWN OF ADAMS.

In the month of August, 1196, the proprietors of the eleven towns divided the territory among themselves by ballot; and in that general division numbers two, seven and eleven (Watertown, Adams and Low- ville) with 1.516 acres of what is now Worth, fell to Nicholas Low. During the months of April and May, previous to this division, the proprietors employed Benjamin Wright to survey the entire tract (the eleven towns, or the Black river tract) into townships, and as he pro- ceeded with the work the worthy surveyor made notes of the character

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OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.

of the region through which he traveled. Of this town (which he knew only as No. ", but which Simeon De Witt, in his survey made in 1802, called Aleppo) Mr. Wright remarked : " The town has every good qual. ity; millseats, springs of excellent water, fine timber, maple, beech. bass, ash, butternut, birch, iron-wood, pine, oak and some chestnut, limestone, fine soil, black mould and loam in general." Commenting generally the surveyor said " It is a pretty level country, some undula- tions, and some excellent swaley land. The principal streams are Stony creek, and the north branch of Big Sandy creek. This branch is a large stream of one chain, eighty links width, in general, and has some very fine intervales, and is nearly all flat rock bottom. There are some appearances of mill seats on this branch, and I suppose probably very good ones, but I have seen nothing of that kind."

Benjamin Wright's survey was made more than a century ago, and so far as we have any knowledge he was the first white person to trav- erse the region having in mind the ultimate settlement and develop- ment of the territory. According to his measurment, the township contained 26,505 acres of land. The present town of Adams contains 27,020 acres, but surveyor Wright reported that local attractions ren- dered it very difficult for him to run straight lines, which in a measure accounts for the difference. Mr. Wright also surveyed the town into lots, which varied in size from 240 to 616 acres each, and these were again subdivided according to the requirements and purchasing ability of settlers.

It is somewhat strange that Benjamin Wright should so carefully ex- amine the territory of the Black river country and yet make no note of existing evidences of the occupation which antedated the period of his visit. Indeed, even at that time the good surveyor must have met with some straggling remnant of the former Indian people who so numerously inhabited the region, for all along the borders of Sandy creek, and elsewhere, the pioneers discovered traces of the occupancy and also unmistakable evidences of their villages, burial grounds and defensive fortifications.

The town abounds in evidences of the aboriginal occupation, and numerous indeed have been the Indian relics found within its limits. One of the most interesting of all the places inhabited by the Iroquois was in the vicinity of the old Talcott tavern in the extreme northeast corner of the town, where, on a bluff some 40 or 50 feet high, once stood a fortification of considerable size and of great defensive strength

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THE TOWN OF ADAMS.

The property is now owned by the heirs of John Metcalf, deceased. The exact location of the fort was on the commanding bluff just below the old eider mill site, the latter being on the head waters of Stony creek. The place is more conspicuous from a large projecting rock which cannot but attract the attention of travelers.

The front of the position is faced with an abrupt ascent, evidently difficult of approach without discovery. The ground in rear is de- pressed and swampy, and is drained by a small stream which falls over a cliff near the okl cider mill site above mentioned. This stream was formerly obstructed by a beaver dam, which converted the marsh into a pond. The elevation of the work was well fitted for defensive opera- tions, possessing the primary requisites of difficulty of approach and a non failing supply of water. The artificial defenses consisted of an embankment of earth with an exterior ditch. The forest growth now covers the greater part of the work, and the lines are thus well pre- served. The average height of the embankment was three feet, and ten feet wide at the base. The diteh was of the same width. There were seven gateways, varying in width from S to 30 feet. An abrupt bank is on the right of the work, 30 feet high, where the defenses are interrupted.

On the northeast slope of the eminence, within the enclosure, in dry sandy soil were formerly seen numbers of small pits or depressions, which were originally from four to six feet deep, but are now filled with leaves and vegetable mould. These were caches' or places for hiding stores. Quantities of parched corn were also found here. Within the walls were found 40 or 50 of these caches, and several more on the crown of the eminence. On removing the leaves in the work the bones of animals and fragments of pottery were found. A small portion of

1 The term cache is of French origin, and means a hiding place, or place of concealment. The practice of caching, or hiding goods or property on outward marches to be used on returning, or by parties following, was general among the Indians. A cache is made by digging a hole in the earth and lining it with sticks, grass or any other material which will protect the contents from dampness. After the goods or provisions have been deposited they are carefully covered over with earth so as to best prevent penetration by water from above. It is important that the presence of the cache itself be also concealed, lest rival parties of cunning savages make the dis- covery and appropriate its contents. To this end the excavated earth is carried to a distance and concealed or thrown into a stream, if one be near. The place selected for a cache is usually some rolling point of land, suficiently elevated to be secure from inundations. If it be well set with grass a solid piece of the turf, of the size of the proposed excavation is cut out, and is after- ward replaced with such care that no evidence of the removal is easily discovered. However, as every locality does not afford a turfy spot the camp-fire is sometimes built upon the cdche. of animals are driven over the spot in order to effe tually destroy all outward traces of its presence. (Gregg's Commerce of the Prairies, Vol. 1. page 69).

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OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.

the work is now under cultivation, and in the vicinity several skeletons have been exhumed by the plow. Some of them were of Indians of large proportions, and were buried in a sitting posture.

The accompanying diagram of the fort was made in 1848 and fairly

Roud From Adams to Watertown

Read ta Watertown

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THE TOWN OF ADAMS.

represents the work as it now stands, although with passing years por- tions have become partially obliterated. As represented on this plan a is the stream ; b is where a large basswood tree stood on the embank- ment; e was where the caches were found; d is where the skeletons were upturned by the plow, and e is a small mound in the form of an amphitheatre outside and to the right of the work, rising out of marshy ground which has been supposed by some authorities to be artificial.

Immer grande lend

Another work of considerable size was found about one-half of a mile north of Adams village, on lands formerly owned by Wells Benton, but now owned by Rev. O. P. Pitcher. Justus Eddy described this work in 1848 as having been semi-circular in form, about 400 feet in diameter, and with the open segment, which was originally palisaded with pick- ets, facing a marshy traet of land through which flowed a small stream. There were two or three breaks or passage ways in the embankment. When the country was first settled trees two and three feet in diameter were found growing in the wall and inside the inclosure. The em- bankment was then from three to four feet high. Within the work were found quantities of pottery, pipes and beads, covered with orna- mental figures. A silver star-shaped ornament bearing the initials " P. H." was also found, which was quite thin, not more than the thickness of a common sixpence piece. The discovery of this ornament unquestionably shows that the work was occupied subsequent to the

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advent of the whites upon the continent, and the existence of the trees within the enclosure do not lead to a different conclusion, as the natural indolent habits of the Indian deterred him from removing forest growths when erecting fortifications in heavily tim bered regions. A diagram of this work was prepared and the same is here reproduced.

But, notwithstanding all the antiquarian interest associated with these old aboriginal villages and fortifications, they are but lightly estcemed in the minds of our white people. The Indian titles to land in this region were extinguished by the treaty of September, 1688, and three years later the state sold to Alexander Macomb the vast tract which included all that is now this county. Through the several trans- fers and conveyances noted at length in another chapter, the territory now comprising Adams passed into the ownership of Nicholas Low, and was through his agents sold to settlers. In the early summer of 1799 a party of explorers from New England made a tour of investiga- tion into the Black river country, having in mind the purchase of a considerable tract of land if a suitable location should be found. In this company were Nicholas Salisbury, Robert Fulton, Caleb and Daniel Ellis, Joel Guile, Abram Wilcox, John and Gideon Howard and Elihu Phillips, who came through the town now called Ellisburgh, but then almost uninhabited, into township No. 7, and crossed the latter follow- ing the general course of Sandy creek. These adventurous explorers were so well pleased with the situation of this town, and with the evi- dent fertility of its soil, that Nicholas Salisbury, who was the leader of the party, went to New York in the fall and made a contract for the purchase of a considerable tract of land about a mile below the village.

The land sale books of Nicholas Low show that the first purchase in the town was made by Elisha Phillips in 1798, and that the purchases which resulted from the visit above mentioned begun Oct. 29, 1799, and continued until at least all the available parcels were sold. Hav- ing recourse to the record of sales referred to, it may be of interest to reproduce the names of purchasers as there noted, viz. :

1798, Elisha Phillips: 1799. Oct. 29, Stephen Shippey, Enos D'Estaing, Nicholas and Alexander Salisbury, Solomon Smith, Daniel Comstock, David Smith, Abram Ripley. Jonathan Cable; Nov. 6, Eliphalet Edmunds, John W. Smith, Francis Mc- Kee. Robert Myrick ; Dec. 1. Squier Reed. Daniel Fox, Zacheus Walworth; 1800, Josiah Godfrey, Jenks Seaman, Simeon Forbes, Ebenezer Lazelle, David and Stephen Grummons, Isaac Baker, Samuel Fox, George Houseman, Peter Doxtater, Paul Stickney, Elias Avery, James McCumber, Russell Smith, Amos Claflin, Ebe- nezer Brown (afterward removed to Lorraine), Joshua Comstock, Matthew Wilkie

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THE TOWN OF ADAMS.

and Consider Low, 1801. Abijah Miller, John Freeman, Josiah Godfrey, Daniel Tal- colt, Hezekiah Tiffany, Joseph Cook, Phineas Rose, Robert, Solomon and Asher Robbins, Simeon Meacham, Timothy Pond, Barnabas Wellman, William Thomas, Abel Hart, Henry Walradt, Chauncey and Roswell Mills; 1802, Nathan Loveland, Cornelius Hinds, Sylvanus P. Daggart, Abel Loveland. Roswell Taylor, Roswell Coc, John Richards, David Higgins, Aaron Farr, John F. Toll, John C. Scott, James Streeter, John Kidder, Joseph Landon; 1802, John Jones, Truman and Theodore Bunce, John Wentworth, Sylvanus Barney, James Randolph, D. M. Gaylord, James Ilenderson, Thomas James, Absalom Price, David Gardner; 1801, Job Taylor, Ebphalet Adams, Abel Myrick, Darius Markham, John C. Dickinson, John Weaver, Aaron Webster.

In the above list the reader may discover the name of the pioneer ancestor of his family in the county, although it must be said that many and perhaps the majority of those named never became actual residents in the town. Some of them were purchasers for speculative purposes alone, while others remained so short a time that their names are hardly to be mentioned either with pioneers or carly settlers. It will be seen, however, that the lands were sold with rapidity, and within the very short space of two years from the time the first improvement was made the creation of a new town in this part of Oneida county be- came necessary. Nearly all writers of Adams history have accorded to Nicholas Salisbury the honor of having made the first settlement and improvement in the town, in April, 1800, yet a more recent and reliable authority inclines to the belief that Samuel Fox was the pioneer in fact, he having in the same year cleared the first acre of land. Wher- ever the truth may be, the present writer cannot say, although the weight of opinion favors the Salisbury pioneership.'

Nicholas Salisbury left his former home in Western, N. Y., in the early spring of 1800, and with his family and all his effect , and prop- erty packed on an ox sled, made his way to Lowville and thence to town- ship No. 7, arriving on April 16, after a journey of twenty-six days. The family went at once to the Salisbury land below the village and built a log house. Mr. Salisbury was an active and successful settler, and afterward attained a position of prominence in the town. He was the first supervisor, and held that office until 1811. He had a large family, and the surname has ever since been known in the south part of the county. Solomon Smith and his son came with the Salisbury family, in the capacity of hired men, but recollections of these pioneers are indeed meagre.

1 Rev. John Taylor, in his narrative of travels through the Black river country in ISE, says that in the winter previous to his visit (1801 2) there were only three families then in the town

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OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.

Samuel Fox settled three miles above the village site, and there his clearing was made in 1800. He, too, built a log cabin, and then brought to the place his young wife. They lived on the farm about fifty years, and reared a family of twelve children. Daniel Fox, elder brother to Samuel, also came in 1800 and settled on the opposite side of Sandy creek. He lived on the farm he developed for a period of 73 years, and died in 1813, at the advanced age of 102 years. He had two sons (both of whom he outlived), and four daughters. One of the latter married with John C. Cooper, who was once president of the Agricultural insurance company. Peter Doxtater was a settler in 1800. and came from the Palatinates of the German Flats in the Mohawk val- ley. His clearing was about a mile from the village. In his family were George, William and Peter, his sons, and Elizabeth, his only daughter. She married with Elijah Wright, who came from Deerfield, Mass., in 1504. George Doxtater succeeded to the old home farm, while William became a merchant at Adams, and later on was the first superintendent of the Rome & Watertown railroad. Peter, the young- est son, spent his life in Adams. Peter, the pioneer, died in 1842, aged 92 years.

One of the most prominent and worthy pioneers in Adams was Eliphalet Edmunds, more frequently known in later years as Judge Edmunds. If Watertown local tradition be true, Eliphalet and Christo- pher Edmunds came into this region from Vermont as early as 1:98, and voyaged down Black river in a boat. They were hunters and were in search of a profitable hunting ground, but when at the falls of the present city site their frail craft was upset, and guns, ammunition and supplies disappeared beneath the waters. Then the brothers struck out into the Black river country, where they learned that settle- ments were beginning, both stopping in Ellisburgh, but very soon afterward Eliphalet came into Adams and was afterward one of the foremost men of the town and county. He was presidential elector in 1×16, and was otherwise prominent in early local history until about 1821, when he removed to Monroe county.

David Smith was the pioneer on the site of Adams village, to which place he came in 1800, and in that year, or very soon afterward, built both saw and grist mills. From this fact the locality took the name of Smith's Mills, and the proprietor honestly deserved all the honor which came to him, for he was an earnest, industrious settler. He left a large family. Zacheus Walsworth was another pioneer, and is said to have

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THE TOWN OF ADAMS.

been one of the first persons to bring a cooking stove into the town. Among the other settlers of the same period, though the exact year cannot be given (nor the precise place of settlement of all of them), may be recalled the names of John Smith, Franeis MeKee, Consider Low, Jacob Kellogg, John Cole, George Houseman, Robert Myrick, John Coles, David Hale, William Benton, Francis Baker and others. Settlers Coles, Kellogg, MeKee, Hale, Benton and Baker lived on the line of the state road laid out through the town soon after settlement was begun. The Bakers were a numerous family, comprising besides the parents, two sons and nine daughters, all of whom, except two, grew to maturity. One of the daughters married with Elihn Morton, and another with Cyrus Eddy, both of which latter names were well known in Adams history. William Benton was father of Wells Ben- ton, who was once sheriff of the county.

Elihu Morton was an early settler and was one of the most influential and wealthy men of the town. Originally there were three brothers named Morton who came to Adams from Vermont, and all raised fami- lies. The eldest was Abner, who became prominent in political history, but who afterward removed to Michigan. Elihu was next younger than Abner, and the third was Julius, who is remembered as an early mer- chant in the town. Major Isaac Baker was an early settler and a suc- cessful farmer. His farm lay adjoining that of Samuel Fox, of whom mention has been made. In the same connection may be mentioned Capt. Richard Goodell, who served during the war of 1812, and who also was elceted to the assembly several times, and was speaker of the house in 1824. Later on he served in an official capacity at Auburn prison, and died there about 1829.

Bradford Lisk came into the town previous to or during the year 1802, and settled on Sandy creek above Smith's Mills. Here he and Francis McKee built a tannery, and the locality soon became known as Lisk Settlement. The bridge in this locality is still called the Lisk bridge. About the same time one Munn came here and opened a public house. Other early comers in the vicinity were Appleton McKee, Priam Thompson, Elijah Fox and Myron Cooper.

A few miles below Adams village, on Sandy creek, is a locality known as the Thomas Settlement. It was here the Thomas family settled during the early years of the century, and some authorities assert as early as 1800. In the family were four brothers, William, Benjamin, Ezra and Ira, who came from Windham county, Vermont, and made a

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OUR COUNTY AND ITS PEOPLE.

clearing. In the next year they were followed by their widowed mother and two younger brothers, Elihu and Joel. The Thomas brothers were instrumental in clearing many fine farms in the southwest part of the town, and were, withal, thrifty and industrious settlers ; and if all mem- ories of the family be true, the brothers were not lacking in patriotism, and served with the militia in the defense of Sackets HIarbor. For many years the Thomas drum corps was one of the institutions of Adams. Many descendants of this family are still in the county. At the corners where the Thomas improvement was begun, a Captain Bar- ney opened a public house about 1810, and soon afterward opened a stock of goods in connection with his tavern. Later on he removed to Watertown, where he also kept tavern, but was afterward accidentally drowned in Black river. Betwen the settlement and the village one Salisbury opened a public house in 1811, but this was abandoned after the village became the trading point of the region. Edward Barney came to the town about 1801, and is recalled as a sort of physician in the locality, though not regularly educated for that profession.

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Our county and its people. A descriptive work on Jefferson County, New York, Part 42

Author: Emerson, Edgar C., ed Publication date: 1898 Publisher: [Boston] Boston History Co. Number of Pages: 1368

Author: Emerson, Edgar C., ed
Publication date: 1898
Publisher: [Boston] Boston History Co.
Number of Pages: 1368